Show:
Poetics
Rhetoric
Figures of Speech
Tropes & Tone
Risk
100
Wordworth's pleasant opening lines, "I wandered lonely as a cloud" is considered to sound this way.
What is euphonic?
100
An adjective or phrase that describes a prominent feature of a person or thing. "Richard 'the Lionheart' " and " 'Shoeless' Joe Jackson" are both examples.
What is an epithet?
100
An expression designed to call something to mind without mentioning it explicitly; an indirect or passing reference. Ex: "Betrayed with a kiss" references the New Testament account of Judas betraying Jesus with a kiss.
What is allusion?
100
The use of decorous language to express vulgar or unpleasant ideas, events, or actions. For example, "passed away" instead of "died"; "ethnic cleansing" instead of "genocide."
What is euphemism?
100
A play on words that exploits the similarity in sound between two words with distinctly different meanings. Example: She had a photographic memory but never developed it.
What is a pun?
200
A combination of figures that produces a confused or contradictory image, such as "The company's collapse left mountains of debt in its wake."
What is a mixed metaphor?
200
Example: "He is no fool who gives what he cannot keep to gain that which he cannot lose" -- Jim Elliot
What is antithesis?
200
The substitution of one term for another that generally is associated with it. For example, "suits" instead of "businessmen."
What is metonymy?
200
"The villain's intentions were unclear when he suddenly released his hostage. Was it a act of unexpected selflessness, or just part of bigger scheme?" This is an example of
What is ambiguity?
200
The use of similar grammatical structures or word order in two sentences or phrases to suggest a comparison or contrast between them. In Shakespeare's "Sonnet 129": "Before, a joy proposed; behind, a dream."
What is parallelism?
300
The clash of discordant or harsh sounds within a sentence or phrase. It is a familiar feature of tongue twisters but can also be used to poetic effect, as in the words "anfractuous rocks"
What is cacophony?
300
Example: "I came, I saw, I conquered."
What is anaphora?
300
John Donne's famous poem addressed to Death, "Death Be Not Proud" is an example.
What is apostrophe?
300
In John Donne's poem "The Flea," the poet compares losing one's virginity to being bitten by a flea. It uses multiple figures of speech and is consistent throughout a work--it is not a single example within a work.
What is a conceit?
300
A statement that seems absurd or even contradictory on its face but often expresses a deeper truth. For example, a line in Oscar Wilde's "The Ballad of Reading Gaol": "And all men kill the thing they love."
What is a paradox?
400
The repetition of similar vowel sounds in a sequence of nearby words. For example, Alfred, Lord Tennyson creates the "o" sound in this line from "The Lotos-Eaters": "All day the wind breathes low with mellower tone."
What is assonance?
400
An informal expression or slang, especially in the context of formal writing, as in when Earnest Gaines has a character say "And I'll be darn if she didn't bake the best one I had ever seen or tasted."
What is colloquialism?
400
The use of one kind of sensory experience to describe another, such as in the line "Heard melodies are sweet" in John Keats's "Ode on a Grecian Urn."
What is synesthesia?
400
In Merchant of Venice, the reader is aware that Lancelot is cheating his father openly; in Tempest, Prospero and the reader are aware of the presence of Gonzalo on the Island but Miranda does not. This is an example of what?
What is dramatic irony?
400
The association of two contrary terms, as in the expressions "same difference" or "wise fool."
What is an oxymoron?
500
The substitution of one term for another that generally is associated with it. For example, "suits" instead of "businessmen."
What is metonymy?
500
To say somebody did "less than their best" on a failing test.
What is litotes?
500
A form of metonymy in which a part of an entity is used to refer to the whole, for example, "my wheels" for "my car."
What is synecdoche?
500
A simple form of verbal irony in which it is obvious from context and tone that the speaker means the opposite of what he or she says. It usually, but not always, expresses scorn. Commenting "That was graceful" when someone trips and falls is an example.
What is sarcasm?
500
In the Doctor Who 2012 Christmas Special, the audience immediately recognizes Clara but the Doctor does not. In Toy Story, the toys move when the people are not there. Also, Buzz thinks he is a real space ranger. InGroundhog Day, the audience and Phil know that Groundhog Day is repeating but the other people do not know this.
What is dramatic irony?